The Uprising
by UnknownEnigma98
Summary: Minato should have listened carefully to the Shinigami's words, maybe then he would have been on the wining side instead of being a catalyst in the uprising. Uzumaki Naruto was not a normal child, he had ambition, intelligence and the drive to prove that even though he didn't have a thousand year old demon fox within him he could still become a legend. This is his story. Yaoi/Het
1. Prologue

The Uprising

Disclaimer: I own nothing and except the plot

Warning: Rated M, explicit language, sexual language and scenes, violence and graphic deaths

Prologue – The Birth of a Hero

Minato stared at the nine thrashing tails of destruction above him. He could see Konoha burning all around him and he could hear the voices of fallen shinobi echoing in his ears. He glanced to his left and a smile of relief appeared on his face as Jiraya rode up to him on Gamabunta. "The northern wall is intact but the southern wall is nearly completely destroyed and the western wall will soon fall under the pressure. If you're going to do something Minato it needs to be done now!" Jiraya said, sweat pouring down his face, dipping into cuts and grazes along his neck.

Minato nodded, "Sensei, I think there is only one option left." Jiraya shook his head, "No Minato, those seals require a sacrifice to the Shinigami and even then it does not guarantee you will survive or the child." Minato smiled sadly, "Kakashi told me that Kushina just had triplets, if the sealing was split between two children it may make the burden easier to bear." Jiraya shook his head, "The splitting of youkai and ying and yang chakra has never been done before Minato there is no proof to show that you will not die." Minato focused his chakra and before he disappeared in a yellow flash said, "It is the duty of the Hokage to at least try."

Jiraya shook his head and climbed onto Gamabunta's back. The giant toad summon sighed and echoed Jiraya's thought, "Blondie's gonna die, isn't he." Jiraya shook his head, "I hope not" before the pair jumped away.

* * *

Minato smiled sadly at the pink screaming bags of flesh in the bassinet, his heart soured with love for his newborn children but the guilt of what he was going to do lay heavily on his chest. Minato stared and recited their names in his head, 'Arashi, Kasumi and …Naruto' each perfectly formed, wrinkled and pink. Minato focused his chakra into his hands and ran quick diagnostic tests over his children, Arashi and Kasumi's reading came back positive for their age but Naruto's showed different signs his looked exactly like a shinobi who suffered from chakra exhaustion, he was alive but his chakra was fluctuating and stationed primarily around his vital organs. Minato shook his head, 'Naruto isn't strong enough' he thought as he gathered Arashi and Kasumi in his arms; he never wanted to subject his daughter to the life of a jinchuriki he knew he couldn't risk the lives of his people when he had the ability to save them.

Minato took one last longing look at his son then shushined away.

* * *

Jiraya sent Minato a quick withered look as he tried to contain one of the Kyuubi no Yoko's tail, Minato sent him a thankful look as he disappeared in a yellow flash as he travelled towards the nine tailed demon. Kyuubi roared and sent groups of shinobi flying into the air Minato braced for action and jumped in front of the demon fox. Kyuubi did not seem to notice him, instead concentrating Jiraya who appeared on Gamabunta and began to battle against the demons, Minato frantically unsealed his equipment and got to work. He laid down Arashi and Kasumi nine metres and painted the chakra focusing seal first, then he cut his palm and mixed it with the ink, on top of the focus seal he painted a suppression seal and lastly he painted the rest of the intricate seal design to capture and bind the youkai as well as to change his ying/yang chakra and filter it into Arashi and Kasumi's chakra system.

Minato wiped his brow and looked up; at that moment Kyuubi ignored his carnage, destruction and the distraction Jiraya presented and focused on the group below him. He snarled menacingly at Minato and the young Hokage gulped and began pumping chakra into the seals, Kyuubi reared his head and lent down to devour Minato whole but at the last minute Minato did the death seal and touched Kyuubi's nose, immediately the fox began to disappear into bright red smoke and was pulled separately into Arashi and Kasumi. Minato looked in shock as the Shinigami appeared before him, "Minato Namikaze," it began in an eerie dark voice, "You have called upon the powers that be to seal away the Kyuubi no Yoko and for that a price must be paid." Minato nodded and bowed his head, "Shinigami-sama I forfeit my life in payment." The Shinigami nodded and reached out a clawed hand towards Minato before he stopped. Seconds passed and he pulled back his hand, a sinister laugh filled the desolate land surrounding them. "Rise young Hokage, your debt has been paid by another, a far greater payment shall be given to me and so I shall spare your life. Namikaze, be warned, your decision will change the course of shinobi history, choose wisely."

Minato nodded but he didn't really listen to the words of the Shinigami, instead he was elevated to have kept his life. That decision marked his fate forever; the Shinigami's words carried off into the distance and years later Minato would regret not heeding the Shinigami's warning.

The Death God nodded and began to disappear but before he vanished completely his voice echoed, "I hold you to your debt Uzumaki Naruto, I expect great things from you."

Miles away a newborn slept with a smile on his face as his chakra receded from his siblings and returned to his own body.

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	2. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Disclaimer – I own nothing

Warnings – Violence, explicit language and future sexual scenes and references

Chapter 1 – The Beginning

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he glanced over the pictures of the students in front of him. Only twelve out of the thirty-six students had the potential to become shinobi and only one was civilian born – Haruno Sakura. Sarutobi sighed again; this year's crop was interesting to say the least. There were ten children of clan heads and one child of a prominent clan as well as a civilian child who would become the poster child to the Civilian Counsel.

First, Yamanaka Ino, the only child of Yamanaka Inoichi, one part of the famous Ino-Shika-Chou formation. She was proficient for a kunoichi of Minato's generation but his sensei, Hiruzen mused, would have not been impressed by her results. She was average, proficient in her family's **Shintenshin no Jutsu**, the mind body switch technique but apart from that she was lacking. Her taijutsu was decent but she lacked strength and stamina, she was above average but control was easier for her as her chakra supply was very low and her genjutsu was decent but Hiruzen knew that she, among the majority of her class, did not know how to detect or cancel even the weakest of genjutsu. Plus, she was a fan girl, she had no motivation to become a good shinobi and she had no true skill in becoming a key component of a team instead of a liability if she did not change her attitude and soon.

Nara Shikamaru, the son of Nara Shikaku his lead strategist and Jounin Commander of Konoha as well as being another key part of the Ino-Shika-Chou formation. Shikamaru was unusual, Sarutobi knew that he was unbelievably intelligent but he had no proof, just a lingering hunch in the back of his skull. He was a below average student but Hiruzen knew that behind his lazy exterior lay a slumbering genius he just needed a sensei to bring out the inner strategist within him as well as beating him into submission. His files showed that while his kunai throwing and ninjutsu were proficient, his taijutsu and genjutsu were below average but Sarutobi put that down to sheer laziness.

Lastly, Akimichi Chouji, child of Akimichi Chouza the head of the Akimichi clan and the last part of the famous Ino-Shika-Chou formation. He was sensitive to say the least, Hiruzen noticed that he seemed to have a 'dislike' for the word fat and instead preferred big boned. That needed to go; in battle shinobi used every arsenal possible to gain the upper hand even resorting to petty insults and barbs, his attachment would be his downfall in the future. He was average in ninjutsu and genjutsu but below average in taijutsu, in Hiruzen's opinion that was due to his tentative approach when it came to his hereditary strength. In other words, he was afraid of hurting himself and to an extent someone else. Any Jounin he was place under would have to get him to confront his fears and use his strength to protect what was dear to him.

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and stretched, and then he smiled. He shuffled some papers in the corner of his desk and pulled out a folder reading, Sarutobi Asuma. His hot headed, son would be the perfect sensei for them, and he would push both Shikamaru and Chouji out of their shells while simultaneously breaking Ino of her fan girl tendencies. Yes, Team 10 would be the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou formation with kunoichi Yamanaka Ino, shinobi Shikamaru and Chouji and sensei Sarutobi Asuma.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe before chuckling lowly, if his dear 'wife' could see him now he would brow beat him into submission for smoking his pipe but an old man needed his simple pleasures even if it cost him a lung or two. Hiruzen cracked his fingers in the air and glanced over the remaining photographs and files, Yuhi Kurenai was placed forward by Shikaku as a suitable jounin sensei for a genin team. She was a strong kunoichi, proficient at taijutsu and ninjutsu but exceptional in genjutsu, some might say a prodigy. However, Hiruzen mused, she was too reliant on genjutsu in his opinion and Uchiha's has shown that it was easy for a genjutsu to be turned back on the caster.

She would be a good jounin though, she needed fine tuning but that could be gained through experience. Hiruzen scanned over potential candidates for her students, Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata seemed promising but she was, for a lack of a better word, weak. In emotion and in shinobi technique, she rarely spoke in full sentences and hid behind her large coat, he needed to be broken of that. She needed to be brought out of her shell, kicking and screaming if she had to, Hiashi's techniques' worked for Hanabi and Neji but Hinata, Sarutobi could see that she was a gentle soul and needed a stern but gentle sensei. Kurenai could be that for her.

Sarutobi scanned over the remaining files and pulled out Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Konoha hadn't had a suitable tracking and hunting team in a long time and these genin had the potential to be one. Inuzuka Kiba, the son of the legendary Tsume, had an exceptional nose and tracking ability especially with his ninken Akamaru. He was proficient in taijutsu and ninjutsu but was abysmal in genjutsu. His sensei would need to be able to keep him in line as well as teaching him how to utilize and depend on a team and not his own strengths.

Aburame Shino was a typical Aburame male, he worked primarily solo and Sarutobi knew he was going to have problems depending on humans rather than his kikaichu for support. Most of his skills were unknown but he was severely dependent on his nest and his genjutsu and ninjutsu had suffered because of it, typical of the Aburame clan. All together they would make a great tracking and hunter team as long as Kurenai could pull them together and break them into the perfect team.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled two teams done and so he only has two left, maybe he would make it home for some 'quality' time with his 'wife' tonight. Sarutobi smirked; thank Kami for the creation of Viagra.

The Namikaze triplets, Kasumi, Arashi and Naruto, they were chakra monsters. Kasumi was Minato's only daughter and the princess of Konoha, she was well liked by the civilians and shinobi alike and Hiruzen could see why. She was a lovely person with a polite and kind personality and very giving however, these traits had crossed over negatively into her career as a shinobi, she was a vegetarian and she didn't believe in killing anything. That was a problem, a shinobi couldn't hesitate when faced with death, death was a constant in the shinobi world it was kill or be killed and he didn't know if she had the backbone to deal with that cold hard truth. She was possibly too soft for the shinobi world however; Hiruzen had no proof of her inadequacies' as a shinobi in fact she was an ideal shinobi on paper. Her taijutsu was above average as well as her ninjutsu but she had sloppy control over her chakra and problems with most low rank jutsu especially clones, her genjutsu was non-existent but she'd learned to break genjutsu by stopping the flow of chakra through her body and she was willing to learn a trait she'd gotten from Kushina. But, she still didn't seem like shinobi material in Hiruzen's eyes.

Arashi however, was a powerhouse. He had chakra to spare but also arrogance in buckets as well. Due to his large reserves he had virtually no control over his chakra and couldn't perform any jutsu below C-rank and especially no water jutsu, he just didn't have the control. His taijutsu was above average but his genjutsu was practically nonexistent, his lack of control prevented him from even being able to cast the most basic of genjutsu and due to his large pathways he couldn't sense foreign chakra easily if it was similar to his own until it was too late. It didn't help that his arrogance made him pompous and vain, he basked in being known as a hero and the Kyuubi container and didn't appreciate sharing the spotlight ever. His arrogance would be his downfall though, Sarutobi expected that he always assumed he would be treated like a prince even outside of the village gates, however, that was far from reality and he needed to be brought back down to reality before he insulted a foreign dignitary or tarnished Konoha's reputation. Son of the Konoha's Kiiroi Senko or not he would be severely punished for it.

Lastly, Namikaze Naruto... Naruto was an enigma, to be frank. He participated in class and training but to Sarutobi it was seemed as if he held back in some way, maybe not intellectually but physically, most likely. His taijutsu and genjutsu were slightly above average for his age but ninjutsu was where he excelled, Naruto took to ninjutsu like a dunk to water. Watching his perform hand signs was like seeing art, each hand sign was perfect as if he spent agonizing hours repeating and repeating them until they were perfect and it showed. His form was also flawless, as if he studied katas day in and day out until each kata was perfect in his taijutsu. Hiruzen admired that dedication, it showed that he was willing to do anything to improve and better himself as a shinobi; it also showed keen interest in the smallest of details, essential as a shinobi. However, Naruto was cold, he didn't seem to have any friends his age and every time he saw him he was alone training or reading, solitude was never good for children, it allowed time for emotions like vengeance and anger to grow as well as depression and loneliness.

Hiruzen sighed, it seemed today he had smiled more than he had in a long time, he didn't know why but it felt like what he was deciding today, the teams for the rookie genin, would have a far greater affect on the future, Hiruzen didn't know why but his gut had never failed him so he pushed Naruto away from his siblings and pulled Takahashi Gyou instead into their pile. He was an average genin who came from a prominent family of sword masters and makers. He was average in the majority of his subjects except kenjutsu; he excelled in the art of the blade, which was to be expected. He was mild maundered and somewhat strategic, a good balance to Arashi's loud personality and Kasumi's free spirited ways.

Sarutobi only had one jounin in mind that could train such different and contrasting personalities, that was Shimmori Mizuki. The Namikaze children weren't familiar with him, so the civilian counsel could not clam nepotism and the Takahashi family were n a neutral family who did not have a feud with the Shimmori Family.

That just left Namikaze Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. Sarutobi leaned his head down and rested his head on his folded hands, he hnned quietly as he looked over their files. At first they looked mis-matched. Uchiha Sasuke was well above for his age, he scored constant perfect marks in kunai and shuriken wielding, ninjutsu and taijutsu as well as being fairly intelligent but, like many Uchiha's, he had no sense of genjutsu, this was due to the belief that Uchiha's had their sharingan to battle against any mental attacks. Sasuke particular was different to many other Uchiha's, instead of the classic fire, his elemental affinity as listed by Itachi was lightening. He was the first Uchiha since Uchiha Izuna to have the lightening affinity, it was exceedingly rare. Personality wise, Sasuke was unstable to a degree, it was easy to see that he resented his parents and his position within the family with Uchiha's also being a very cold and distant unit, Sasuke also never got the constant reassurance, love and comfort many other children had known from a young age. He was also more susceptible to being led astray In a quest for power, Sarutobi could just imagine the danger Konoha would be in if a rival village gained an Uchiha and all their clan secrets, it would make a tenth of the ninja force disabled and the whole of the police force useless.

Haruno Sakura was the biggest surprise of the day; Sarutobi honestly didn't think she would make it even though both of her parents were inactive shinobi, she was raised completely civilian with no prior training or tutoring. Both Mebuki and Kizashi believed that becoming a shinobi was Sakura's choice and that they would not force her but a part of Sarutobi wished they had, the girl was pitiful. He had spied on the genin for some time and she was the most alarming genin he'd seen in a long time, she'd talked mainly about dieting and keeping a 'womanly' figure for 'Arashi-kun' and 'Sasuke-kun' both of whom he'd never seen pay her attention. She had almost no muscle definition or stamina, her taijutsu was abysmal, her ninjutsu was passable and her genjutsu was, surprisingly, above average. It was probably due to her near perfect chakra control however, she did have very small reserves. Thankfully her brain was her redeeming quality; her brain was like a sponge and her ability to retain, condense and store information was impressive, she could give some of the Nara's a run for their money. But, she needed a sensei to push her to her full potential, make sure she grasped all opportunities with her hands and make use of them.

Tsunade, or one of his other students would have been perfect as a sensei but Hiruzen didn't want to have to combat with the councils on why such a high profile sensei was chosen for one squad and not the other, especially the civilian council, they didn't understand the delicate ethics of the shinobi world and constantly annoyed him to no end with their foolish talk, thankfully they were Minato's problem now.

Sarutobi stared off into the distance for a while longer before he smirked and flicked through the remaining pile of eligible jounin sent by Shikaku. He flicked through them until he saw the face that he wanted, yes, he would be perfect. Sarutobi leaned back and smiled, all the teams were picked now, and he had Team 10, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji under Sarutobi Asuma, Team 9, Namikaze Kasumi, Namikaze Arashi and Takahasi Gyou under Shimmori Mizuki. Team 8, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and sensei Yuhi Kurenai and lastly, Team 7, Namikaze Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke under sensei…..

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Kurenai glanced to her left at Mizuki. His long white hair and green eyes made him look ethereal in comparison to Asuma and Kakashi. It didn't help that he had a very pretty looking face and open expression but as Kurenai knew well, looks could be deceiving. But, she couldn't stop herself from staring, she barely knew of Mizuki, but she knew that he didn't take genin teams often, in fact, never. He was almost identical to Kakashi in that manner; he was primarily a solo shinobi. She wondered quietly in her head why was he accepting now, of all times, to take a genin team, what made them so special.

"Yuhi-san, if you have something to say please say it, those probing looks of yours are staring to irritate me." He never looked at her as he spoke but his eyes flashed with irritation briefly, Kurenai shook her head and mumbled a no bashfully. Mizuki nodded but out of the corner of her eye Kurenai swore she saw Kakashi giggling at her behind his porn. She rolled her eyes and instead concentrated on the empty Hokage's desk in front of them. Minutes past before the doors behind them opened and Lord Hokage walked in.

He sat at his desk and smiled, immediately she relaxed, something about the third Hokage's aura made Kurenai relax and feel at ease around him, she felt like she could talk to him about anything. She gave him her full attention as he began speaking. "I've gathered you here today for an important mission, one of the most important mission of your life, teaching the next generation of shinobi. I hope you understand that this is not to be taken lightly, when you decide to become sensei's you decided to become more than teachers, you become friends, confidants, brothers, sisters and families. You cultivate a bond that can never be broken. So I ask you, are you ready, Sarutobi Asuma, Hatake Kakashi, Yuhi Kurenai and Shimmori Mizuki to become jounin sensei of Konohagakure?"

The four shinobi nodded and said a " hai " in response; Sarutobi nodded and continued, "Well then, I will begin with your teams then. Team 10 will be …..

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	3. Chapter 2 - Formation of Team 7

Disclaimer – I own nothing

Warnings – Violence, explicit language and future sexual scenes and references

Chapter 2 – The Formation of Team 7

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Hours after Iruka left Naruto was at his wits ends. Naruto glanced next to him at Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. It made no sense. He let his head drop to the desk with a loud 'thunk'. Traditionally, the rookie first and the dead last were paired together with an average kunoichi to make the best balanced team and most versatile which was understandable but, he knew he wasn't the dead last of year. He had tried so hard...too hard to remain as inconspicuous and normal as possible and being part of Team 7 placed a target on his back. He wasn't stupid.

Naruto glanced at the Uchiha again and rolled his eyes, while Sasuke tried desperately to ignore him and forget that the gaze of the Yondaime Hokage's son was burning holes in his cranium. Sasuke scanned his 'teammates' in his periphery and almost sighed akin to a Nara. He didn't understand how he was placed with Haruno and Namikaze. Granted they were better than the other candidates he could have had, especially Haruno. Sasuke inwardly cringed at the idea of other 'kunoichi' being a part of his team, touching, feeling, and talking to him. He suppressed the urge to gag and instead placed a cool, collected mask on his face to hide his thoughts. Namikaze and Haruno were too good to be the dead last, well Namikaze was, Haruno was a typical civilian shinobi; all brains no brawn and no unique skills but, Namikaze. In Namikaze Sasuke could see himself fostering a new relationship for his clan, Naruto was ...well Naruto. Sasuke had never seen him interact within the class room much and he seldom said anything, not that he didn't want to. Sasuke had seen the rolled eyes and heard the mumbled mutterings; he knew that Namikaze was more than what he let on to others.

All three newly instated genin glared at the clock proclaiming it two hours past the designated time their jounin teacher was supposed to appear; its monotonous ticking slowly wore away at their nerves for minutes until the door opened. The sound of the panel moving was so alien to the genin after so long that their reactions were slow, too slow for shinobi. They moved their heads without a care in the world till their eyes met annoyed grey eyes.

* * *

The first thing Naruto noticed about his new teacher was the mask, well and the lack of two visible eyes. The navy standard issue mask covered half his face and Naruto knew there was a seal inside the mask to distort his face so that others could not match his face on the bingo book, if he wasn't the notorious Hatake Kakashi. Famous for knowing over 1000 jutsu, known all over the elemental countries as Kopi Ninja no Kakashi (Copy ninja Kakashi), Sharingan no Kakashi, Slayer of armies and chronically late.

Naruto Knew of him, he couldn't think of anyone who didn't. This was the man who had copied over 1000 jutsu's, graduated the academy at age six and was responsible for slaughtering a village singlehandedly, bathing the streets in blood. This was Hatake Kakashi.

Naruto laughed under his breath, Kami hated him. Of all the people in the world he could be stuck with as a sensei, he got his father's lapdog.

Kakashi must had read Naruto's mind and heard his chuckle because he slowly unleashed his killing intent, allowing it to build up around him in the room they were all in until was stiflingly painful and Sakura looked on the urge of killing herself. "I will only say this once." Kakashi looked each of them in the eye, glaring coldly at them as he spoke "If you believe you have what it takes to become Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the leaves) shinobi join me on the roof. However I will warn you that this will not be easy." Kakashi left an ominous aura in the room as he walked out the door.

Sasuke glared at Naruto ask he walked past, "Keep your thoughts to yourself next time Namikaze." He muttered as he walked the way the Jounin had left. Naruto sighed and slowly walked towards the door, he stared over his shoulder at Sakura who sat paralysed in fear and rolled his eyes, "Get up Haruno; we're a team aren't we?" Sakura nodded dazedly and Naruto rolled his eyes and walked away.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura watched their sensei against the backdrop of the dying sun over Konoha. Kakashi seemed troubled as he watched the sunset and once the sun vanished beneath the earth, leaving only the splattering of orange and pink rays, he focused his attention back on them. "Konoha is the oldest shinobi village, it is a village that many would say is built on the will of fire, however it is also a shinobi village and you would do well not to forget that." Kakashi stared them in the eyes, he gaze was harsh and unfeeling as if he was trying to get the genin to imprint this message in their minds, that it was important to understand what he was saying and take it to heart.

"Abandon everything the academy taught you about being shinobi, unlike them I will not coddle you or give you false illusions of the life as a shinobi of Konoha. It will be bloody, you will kill, you will steal, you will lie, you will lose limbs, and you will rape if you have to. You will do all the things the civilians consider immoral, disgusting and unjust so they don't have to." Kakashi breathed and turned his attention to the west, towards Hokage tower. "You will have nightmares, you will not sleep, and you will not have luxuries. We are soldiers commanded by the Hokage, we have no choice. When you become a shinobi you forfeit all choice you have in this world so, are you ready to become shinobi?" Kakashi looked that them all individually until he turned away and began walking to the edge of the roof. "Heed this warning genin, this life is not sunshine and rainbows and you will not be rewarded, you will work slave hours for meagre pay and the only good thing in the life of the shinobi is knowing you completed the mission." Kakashi stopped at the door, "Unless you're me," He said in a monotone voice, "Then you will revel in the blood of your enemies, take joy in the sound of their last breathe leaving their body and find solace in every depraved, disgusting and heartless thing you are asked to do by your Hokage to better your village. If you believe you can handle that then by all means, meet me at Training ground 44 at 10:00 hours. Pack for a while, you won't be seeing Konoha anytime soon." With that Kakashi leapt of the roof of the academy and subsequently vanished. None of the genin said anything they all just stood and walked away in silence, each contemplating their own destiny.

* * *

Sakura walked through the streets of Konoha and to the untrained eye she seemed normal, however no one could comprehend the depth of the confusion she was in. Every truth she had had ever known, every belief that shinobi were good guys that fought against evil, every ideal she held close to her heart, Kakashi was trying to shatter. She clenched her fists in resolve. Genin had to be tested; she knew they underwent tests to prove their worth as a shinobi. A smile broke out on her face, 'this was all just a test' she thought with glee, 'This was just a test to prove they wouldn't fall to deception'. With that thought Sakura's will solidified again and she increased her pace to her home, she would become a good shinobi and win the heart of Sasuke or Arashi.

Too bad for Sakura's parents, this was the last time Sakura came home with a smile on her face and innocence in her eyes. When she returned home months later, she would have resolve in her eyes, hate in her heart and Kakashi's rules embedded in her soul. Her chakra would be stained with death and she would be a true shinobi.

* * *

Naruto whistled as he walked through the door. "Tadaima" He called out as he pulled off his sandals, silence greeted him in earnest. He shook his head and walked through the house to his room, he could hear the sounds of destruction from the back of his house and he knew that it was Arashi and Minato, bonding as usual.

Naruto smirked. He jumped on his bed and covered his eyes, sorting through the information he learned today.

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura was the first surprise. They were not what the people he expected to be paired with. There wasn't...there was no correlation! Naruto knew he was a frontline fighter possibly doubling as a mid-range fighter but Uchiha was a sure frontline fighter, majority of his family was and Haruno, honestly... was useless. Naruto sat up on his bed and rested his head on his palm musing 'Uchiha – Potential sharingan, taijutsu, good ninjutsu and a shitty elitist attitude. Haruno – Good knowledge and memory, nonexistent skills anywhere else.' "Never even seen her throw a fucking kunai," Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes.

Second surprise, Hatake fucking Kakashi. Enough words. Hatake fucking Kakashi, Naruto rolled his eyes. He thought his father's lapdog would have been having sex with the village whores instead of infecting innocent genin with misplaced anger and sexual tension, Naruto mused with a smile on his face. 'Whatever,' Naruto thought, 'I'll burn in hell the day Arashi and Kasumi surpasses me when Hatake is my sensei. Fucking lapdog but he-'

A crash snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. Rolling his eyes he stood up and walked out his room, in front of his door sprawled out on the floor was Arashi. The younger twin of Naruto looked up with a disgruntled look on his face; he pushed himself up off the ground and stood up with the well practised ease of a shinobi. "Kaa-chan says dinners ready." Arashi said as he tried to peer behind Naruto's shoulder into his room. Naruto rolled his eyes and pushed his weight against his brothers, "I don't think so **otouto**" Naruto spat the word out as if it was a curse and forced Arashi backwards. "Tcch," Arashi turned and walked away, Naruto glared at his back, stifling the urge to wrap his hands in the red locks and drag his brother to the ground.

Naruto looked to his right and laughed as he saw the broken seal by his door knob. It was one of the first seals he had learned from his father's stolen scrolls, the vacuum seal. It was relatively simple in nature, just a basic matrix with a Tatsu and Saru addition to programme it to contain Fuuton chakra and a timer embedded to go off when radiated foreign chakra was detected for more than ten seconds. Naruto smirked and tore the seal off the wall, walking back into his room he sat on the floor and began to relax his body.

Head first, then the neck, spreading relaxing thoughts through his body, down to the bottom of his spinal cord and into his feet, until calmness settled in the pit of his stomach. Then he began to sort through what he could remember about sealing from the scrolls.

Inu, the dog handseal, gave a jutsu foundation and helped to guide a jutsu, most defensive ninjutsu and Doton (Earth) jutsu started and ended with Inu because of its strong foundation mimicking the element and making it easier to control.

Tori, the bird handseal, an erratic hand seal that could give jutsu unpredictability and power but also made jutsu dangerous and unpredictable, indicative of Raiton (Lightening) jutsu and was could never be used singularly without a focus due to its volatile nature. Tori hand seals were almost always followed by Ushi, the ox seal of stability, Ushi was the seal of stability and perpetuality. Used almost always after Tori to stabilise the erratic seal and focus chakra to the desired end. A jutsu with Tori and not Ushi was a suicidal technique and the caster would almost always die or damage their chakra pathways.

Mi, the snake seal was the seal of intent and intelligence. The hand seal was almost always used in conjunction with Uma as it decided to basic outcome of a jutsu and directed chakra to the necessary tenketsu (pressure points). Jutsu without Mi lacked direction and changed with fluctuating chakra. It could be a Suiton (Water) one minute and Hyuton (Ice) the next there was no stability in the intended outcome, only chakra.

Saru, the monkey handseal was the seal of connection. It made the Jutsu flow as all the hand seals were connected allowing harmony in the jutsu it prevented Jutsu's from acting of their own accord. Saru was a common hand seal in Suiton jutsu allowing water to flow easier.

Hitsuji, the ram seal, was the seal of flexibility and endurance. Hitsuji allowed intent to combine with chakra to mould the elements and was a seal in all jutsu.

Tora, the tiger handseal of power. All Katon jutsu contained Tora, it added brute strength and power to any jutsu at the downside of being unstable and needing a stability seal to focus the strength. If not the fire would burn out of control and have no end point, if it escaped the mouth of the shinobi, Katon jutsu's were notorious for killing untrained shinobi especially in Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire).

Ne, the rat seal for control. It was famously used by the Nara clan in their shadow techniques. Ne was a seal used sparingly, it was a seal that controlled the flow of chakra to a degree that many had problems with. Chakra had its own volatile nature; it did like to be bent to anyone's desire. Ne usually caused chakra to bend in an alien pattern at a constant flow and many had problems keeping their chakra control constant.

U, the hare seal. It was the seal of longevity and was also the only deciding factor in the duration of a jutsu, apart from amount of chakra of the user.

Tatsu, the hand seal of the dragon. It was also a seal of power but of a different type, unlike Tora, Tatsu was swift, sharp and fast and was a primary seal in Fuuton (Wind) jutsu. It made jutsu powerful but fleeting, the power of the Tatsu seal could be built upon.

Uma, the horse seal. Uma was a seal of the mind, of wisdom. It was used in all mind techniques by the Yamanaka family and others. It played a crucial part in deciding the element of a jutsu in combination with Tora, Inu, Tatsu, Tori or Saru.

I, was the seal of the boar and was sturdy. It gave a framework to a jutsu and allowed a jutsu to follow through to the end; it was a common seal in simple jutsu's with only one pathway or end point.

Naruto sighed as he finished memorising the seals and practising the motions with his hand. It had taken him some time, but he had finally mastered the basics of sealing, understanding each seal intrinsically and what it brought to a jutsu or seal. His study would have been finished quicker if he had, had the help of a seal master but Namikaze Minato was not the best teacher. Blood boiled as he slowly fell deeper into his memories, remembering the last time he asked Minato for help sealing.

* * *

_Naruto walked over to his father and knelt beside a meditating Minato. "Tou-san, what does this seal do?" Naruto added as he plopped down next to Minato. Minato cracked one eye open and glanced down at Naruto before opening the other in alarm. He grabbed the piece of paper out of Naruto's hands and glared at him, "How did you get this drawing Naruto?" Minato asked glancing between his son and the paper in shock and irritation. Naruto stuttered, sensing his father's irritation "I-I-I copied it from otouto's seal on his chest." Minato sighed and ran a hand down his face to calm himself. He stood up and glared at Naruto "Do not, ever do something like this again. Seal's, especially your siblings seal, are too powerful to be thrown around, especially by a child. Never do something like this again Naruto. Besides, you need a certain touch to study Fuuinjutsu, the Namikaze touch, and I doubt you have it, it's a one in a million gift."Minato walked away with a dismissive attitude leaving behind a child full of the urge to prove him wrong._

* * *

Anger seethed in Naruto's veins. He knew what Minato meant by one in a million gift, it reinforced the idea that Arashi and Kasumi were special and wanted and he was just the weak, sickly child no use to anyone. He took a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax, Hokage's bitch or not, Hatake Kakashi was powerful and Naruto would make sure he took advantage of this one in a million gift.

Naruto checked his father's stashed sealing scrolls that found new residence in the lose panel under his bed and quickly grabbed the pre-prepared backpack he had made for long missions, he was ready for whatever life or Kakashi threw at him.

But as he reached the front door of his home he remembered he still had to eat dinner.

* * *

Sasuke hated his family.

He hated the way his mother fawned over Itachi, the look of pride his father shot Itachi whenever his eyes came across first born. Sasuke speared the meat on his chopsticks and shoved it in his mouth; his eyes looked darkly at his older brother. The phrase 'Heir and a spare' had never been as true as it was with the main branch Uchiha family. Uchiha Sasuke was so blatantly the spare was an eyesore to the famous doujutsu clan users. He paled in comparison to Uchiha Itachi; prodigy, epitome of the perfect shinobi, clan heir, saviour and the bane of his existence.

The family ate in silence. Words weren't needed, Sasuke didn't want to play the oblivious younger brother and full the chasm of silence with a childish anecdote about graduating the academy. He didn't want to have to pretend again that everything was okay when it wasn't. He didn't want anything to do with his family. He wanted freedom.

Sets of eyes all turned to watch Sasuke as he stood up from his position at the table. He slowly pushed his chair back into the table and placed his dish in the sink. "Sensei has told us to meet him at the training grounds at 10:00 hours", Fugaku nodded, "You are excused shinobi" He said with cold detachment in his voice, Sasuke walked away his hope deflated. He had expected something. Anything. Any emotion would have been good instead of the cold detachment he'd received. Anything to show that he had actually cared.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked at Training ground 44 with fear in their hearts. The way the shadows loomed over the edge of the gates, the circling vultures over the trees and the stench of rotting flesh made them all flinch with unease.

"Yoh" Kakashi said with a two fingered wave as he popped up beside Naruto. The blond flinched and forced himself not to jump and lose composure; Kakashi smirked at riling up the young Namikaze and whistled innocently. "This is Training ground 44," he said then he whirled around with out-stretched hands, "This is practically the outside world. Commit it to memory because you won't be seeing it for 8 weeks. You will eat, sleep and breathe Training ground 44, understand and map its terrain, animals and plants. You will either die or become stronger and because my career as a shinobi depends on you living, you better not die."

The genin gaped as Kakashi's eyes smiled disarmingly at them. They stood processing the information before Sakura blurted out, "But sensei, what about our homes and our families. What about our friends?" Her voice quivered with emotion as she battled with knowingly she would be leaving behind the comfort of her home. Kakashi's eyes widened in utter disbelief, he coughed twice and even then both Naruto and Sasuke could see the astonishment lingering in his eyes.

He coughed again, "Sakura you never fail to surprise me. I'll I can say is by the end of this training session, that question should seem trivial, naive and childish and hopefully you will know the answer to it when I see you again."

Before the genin could say anything Kakashi had change his hand into the Uma seal, rendering the genin unconscious.

* * *

When Sakura awoke the first thing she noticed was spiders. Lots of spiders. The eight legged freaks loomed threateningly over her as she felt herself become more restricted. She looked down her body to see that she had been wrapped silk rope-like thread and that the spider had fangs out ready to kill her. Sakura stared into its beady eyes and screamed. Her scream discombobulated it for a moment but the spider shook itself, akin to that of dog and its protruding fangs, sharp like hypodermic needles, stabbed into her shoulder. She felt her limbs go limp as the neurotoxin kicked in and began to paralyse in body, she struggled to move but slowly lost the fight as it turned away, and she watched it scuttle towards a flash of bright yellow.

'N-N-Naruto?' her mind questioned as she blanked out.

* * *

Sasuke hated spiders. He fucking hated spiders. Sasuke hissed as a fang nicked his elbow and he shimmied out of the carcass of the silk cage. He was grateful he had remembered to pack shuriken in his pockets. He quickly and awkwardly, cut through the layers of the dense rope and had himself semi-free as the spider terrorised Sakura. His eyes widened and he tried to move quicker as the spider left Sakura and walked towards Naruto, however his incessant moving had caused vibrations on the web alerting the spider that he was awake. Never had Sasuke felt so much fear. All eight eyes stared into him and his heart fell into his stomach. Scrambling quickly he had just enough time to move before the spider lunged for where his head was. Moving quickly, Sasuke jumped to one of the branch the web was between and slumped down against the tree. He knew he wasn't able to face the beast one on one and unlike other shinobi, self preservation ran ripe within him. Glancing up, he watched the spider train his eyes on him before turning around and heading towards Naruto.

He could feel the loud pumping of his blood through his veins in his ears. Sighing Sasuke tried to calm his beating heart but it was to no avail. He needed a way to save his teammates. He searched around, desperately looking for an answer but nothing stood out to him. As the arachnid made its way closer to Naruto, in a fit of desperation Sasuke resigned to doing something impulsive. He grabbed a kunai from his pocket, offered a quick prayer to Kami and cut the part of the web attached to his tree.

The whole foundations collapsed.

The creature had no time to react before it was falling out of the sky and hitting the ground with a thud. It hissed angrily at the Uchiha before grabbing Sakura by her hair and dragging her away quickly. Sasuke growled in annoyance and jumped down the tree landing beside Naruto. He glanced around grabbed a stick and began prodding Naruto in the side with it. "Namikaze, wake up. Wake up baka, Sakura was captured." As Naruto slowly came back to the land of the living he struggled against his binds and glared at Sasuke. "A little help?" He hissed through gritted teeth. Sasuke smirked and used a shuriken to untie the blond before helping him up.

Naruto said nothing for a moment as he then asked, "Which way?" Figuring that a live Sakura would be good for his health and remembering Kakashi's warning, Sasuke pointed to the left.

* * *

Sakura mentally kicked herself for being so….something. She couldn't put her finger on it but something annoyed her and it wasn't impending death. As another stone dug into her side as she was dragged along the muddy dirt floor, she felt the hate for spiders rise along with the bile in her throat. She wanted to kill it. It stopped and she quickly slowed her breathing and closed her eyes making I appear that she was still unconscious. As the spider prepared its nest for dinner she knew she only had this small window of opportunity and she had to make it count. She was gonna try and save herself.

* * *

Newest Chapter, some changes have been made that I kinda prefer. Updating hopefully more regularly, muse is back. Please review, favourite and PM thanks xx


	4. Chapter 3 - Surviving

The Uprising

Chapter 3

Haruno Sakura was weak, she knew she was, but she never wanted to be. She'd joined the academy to become a shinobi, not just a good kunoichi, but a good shinobi better than any man or woman out there. Ino had inspired her, surprisingly, to conquer her fears and try to do something her parents had believed she'd never accomplish. However, peer pressure and her insecurity in not fitting had made her disregard her dreams and run without stretched arms, towards boys like every other girl in her class.

She felt like an idiot.

Before the academy, she'd never worried about her weight, her hair or stupid meaningless things like that. Her pursuit of knowledge had given her tunnel vision and disregard social interaction until Ino forced her way into her bubble. Unfortunately, it was all in vain now.

She knew she was quite pathetic for a kunoichi and as she lay in tense wait she realised what Kakashi-Sensei had meant. She was a pile of shit ninja, but she refused to die as one. Breathing deeply, she put her mind to the test, pushing her mental capabilities in a way they hadn't been pushed in a long time. She waited until she could feel the heavy weight of the arachnid on top of her, pressing down on her stomach and chest as it clawed at the bindings near her neck. She concentrated on summoning her chakra, pooling it in the pit of her stomach until it was filling the bowl she'd created, welling and filling, its restless nature attacking against its constraints. She relaxed, for the first time. Intimately feeling the mixture of the tentative balance of mind, body and soul, slowing her breathing she lay in wait, counting down in her head.

'Go'.

She didn't know if it was gonna work but she could try.

'Shi'.

She slowly started to push her chakra down the paths of her body.

'San'.

Strength filled her limbs as the chakra flowed down the chakra pathways.

'Ni'.

The small amount of Chakra, almost bead like in size, pooled at her tenketsu. She breathed deeply and waited, just a little longer…

'Ichi'.

Sakura immediately forced her chakra out of the tenketsu's all over her body. The nodes buzzed with excitement at being used and Sakura felt exhilaration run through her body before a burning sensation settled into her limbs and slowly crawled its way up her body. Her muffled screams were drowned out by the buzzing sound in her ear as she smelt something burning, opening an eye to watch her arm slowly turn brown then black, turning her head she watched the creature die slowly as blue tendrils of her chakra appeared through bleeding holes, she knew its wails of anguish would probably haunt her again but she couldn't help the feeling of smug satisfaction at its pain. After that, all Sakura saw was black.

Sadly, she missed the look of intrigue from a certain gray-haired shinobi as he appeared from the shadows and quickly looked over her before vanishing.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto traditionally didn't work well with others but he could admit that it was … useful… to have Uchiha Sasuke around. The older Uchiha was a decent enough tracker but his skills lay in his observations. With Uchiha as his eyes Naruto felt as if he truly understood the term 20/20 vision. His facial senses were good, better than most the only people, the only people Naruto could think would probably beat the Uchiha in senses was probably the Inuzuka nose. The Uchiha saw things he could only wish to, the ants crawling next to his ankle on the tree he just jumped, the speckle of almost translucent perspiration on his upper lip and the small missed stitch in his jacket sleeve that made one lip of stitching irregular. He'd been impressed when he realised but Naruto was not going to compliment the Uchiha heir. Slowing the pace slightly, Naruto crouched down and picked up a loose strand of webbing, he smirked up at Sasuke, "Uchiha ready to kill some pests?" Sasuke snorted and picked off imaginary lint off of his blue t-shirt "I've never been particularly fond of spiders." Naruto snorted and stood up, "After you princess" He said stretching out his hand, smiling a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Sasuke rolled his eyes, flicked the lint into the dark abyss of forest and jumped away.

They didn't travel for long. Barely a minute before the two boys reached the clearing at which the trail ended and destruction lay in their wake. "Well, that was anticlimactic" Naruto said, eyes widening as they took in the sight of the burnt remains of the spider. The surrounding trees' had webbing slung around haphazardly and cracked spider nest bundles were opened; the only sound in the clearing was the dropping of spider eggs as they fell to the ground and burst open with a force that showed the hatred gravity had for the ground.

Sasuke tentatively walked into the clearing and walked lightly over to the curled, deformed figure of the barely breathing person. "Haruno?" Sasuke asked, confusion colouring his voice as he knelt closely to the burnt figure. His eyes roved over the patches of burnt hair and skin, the dark, almost purple scars on her body that looked grotesquely beautiful the way the patterns curled, moved and flowed around her body. As she breathed, it was if a rippled effect washed over her body and the scars looked as if they moved of their own accord.

Sakura moaned lightly and Sasuke barely heard it over the ominous rustling of leaves. "Hey," Naruto said; his voice no more than a whisper. "We need to leave Uchiha, now. Grab her and let's go." Sasuke nodded, leaning down he gently placed the delicate female in his hands, the calluses o nhis palms and fingers brushing her skin ever so slightly and releasing moans of sheer agony that even had him wincing in guilt. Sasuke absently wondered when Naruto became the leader of their renegade trio but as soon as that thought entered his mind it escaped with a whoosh of air as he leapt into the tree's and let the weightless feeling of chakra and nitrogen wrapped oxygen guide him through the air and into the embrace of the tall towering tree's of the forbidden forest.

They sped through the forest, the only sound accompanying them provided no comfort and as Naruto started at the tall trees, the increasingly approaching dawn and the threat of more creatures, possibly even more terrifying than the spiders they just faced. Swallowing the bile rising in his throat Naruto realise that Kakashi meant it when he said they would either die or become stronger, Naruto couldn't imagine a place that embodied death as much as this place.

* * *

Sasuke was the one to find shelter in the end. The youngest Uchiha saw the alcove in the rock formation out of the corner of his eyes and quickly assessed its safety and the plausibility of defence. Sasuke whistled lowly to grab Naruto's attention and nodded to entrance to the cave. Naruto held his gaze before changing direction and jumping towards the cave. Sasuke secured his grip on Sakura and leapt for the closest branch, he hoisted her higher before gathering chakra at the soles of his feet and using it to propel him upwards and into the cave. The branch he had just been standing on splintered from the force of the chakra and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Laying Sakura down on the ground, he slumped against the cold wall of the alcove and took deep breaths. It was quite small. Just enough room to fit the three of them and keep the entrance of the cave securely defended. Sasuke looked around and noticed a fire pit that looked as if it had been previously used. He waded his fingers through the ashes and noticed the paltry amount of kinder left from a previous fire. Sasuke stretched his fingers and his hands quickly ran through the ingrained motions. Gathering chakra in his hand, he started Inu, Tori, Ushi , Saru ,Hitsu- tanned fingers wrapped around Sasuke's hand in a painful grip and squeezed until Sasuke could feel his bones moving out of place finger by finger. "What the fuck are you doing teme? " Naruto hissed his eyes blazing and his teeth bared the look in his eyes unhinged and wild. Sasuke glared back and pulled his hand from the other male's hand, "What does it look like Usuratonkachi? If I don't start a fire Haruno is going to freeze to death and I will not be held responsible." Naruto exhaled and glared, "For rookie of the year you're a total Baka Uchiha. There's no ventilation in here if you start a fire it will smoke out the cave and end up making us an even bigger target. We'll be sitting ducks and I refuse to die because some pampered prince didn't know how to survive in the wilderness." Sasuke had a look of sheer hate on his face as the realisation dawned in his eyes. He hated to admit that he was wrong and worse that Naruto was right. Shaking his head, Sasuke said nothing and instead looked over at Sakura and Naruto's eyes followed.

Something softened in Naruto's gaze but he squashed it as quickly as it appeared, nodding in agreement to Sasuke, they were both on the same page. Both genin crawled over to the still form of their kunoichi teammate and huddled around her. Sasuke wrapped himself around her back securing his arms around her abdomen, Naruto pressed himself to her front and both boys lay still as Sakura's breathing evened out and she uncurled her body slightly. They both watched her, Naruto waiting moments before whispering over her to Sasuke, "How many supplies do you still have?" Sasuke closed his eyes in thought then replied, "Nothing but my extra shuriken and kunai." Naruto closed his eyes as if in physical pain then nodded, "Kakashi left us here to die. We're going to have to scavenge for food and water as well as try to preserve as many weapons as possible because those spiders were probably the least of our worries." Sasuke nodded and replied, "He was right," Naruto sent him a questioning look and the Uchiha just shook his head, "If we ever escape here, we'll stronger." Naruto snorted and soon both boys were snickering under their breaths. They would be stronger if they ever survived.

* * *

Sakura woke up feeling how, stifling hot. She felt as if she had been stabbed all over her body then roasted like a prime piece of unagi. She felt foreign in her own skin and weaker than she ever did before. She felt an awkward breeze on her head and her scalp throbbed in irritation, without putting her hands near her head Sakura knew that she was missing a key part of her character, if not majority of it. Struggling to open her eyes she wimped, clenched and unclenched her hands grasping at air. She finally grabbed at something and pulled it, yanking on it with as much strength as she could muster to pull herself up. Immediately she heard countless curse words and a litany of repeated curses to Kami, she stopped as she realised who was speaking. "Naruto?" Sakura asked as she tried to pry open her closed eyes, she received a painful grunt and slow snickering in reply. "S-sasuke?" Sakura asked in confusion, she heard rustling next to her and turned to see the shadowy outline of what she perceived to be the Uchiha second born. The figure was constructed out of wisps of different shades of black and gray and presented a new meaning to the saying 'out of the shadows'. Sakura tried to squint and see any other colour even the dark blue or white of Sasuke's clothing but she couldn't see anything but shadowy darkness. Unknowingly, she released a whimper that had both boys turning to face her and feeling extremely awkward when they saw the tears streaming down her face. "Haruno-san...are you feeling well?" the stilted old-fashioned speak from the Uchiha second heir did nothing to Sakura but made her realise how alone she was. Her team mates weren't her friends; they saw her as a means to an end, not as person. She felt a sense of anguish welling inside her. Tears ran faster down her cheeks and as she prepared to start stifling her sobs she felt a hand grip the little hair she had left. '"Stop that shit now." A distinctly male voice tinged with annoyance growled in her ear. Naruto gripped her shoulder tightly and snarled, "Whatever the fuck your upset about get over it now. We just risked out asses to save your pathetic skin and instead of you being grateful you're whining and crying about a couple of bumps and bruises and some missing hair. Get over it. I thought you wanted to be a kunoichi not a useless piece of emotional shit that serves no other purpose but stinking up our team and preventing us from passing our test." Naruto released her body in frustration and stood up; he ran his left hand through his hair in a mix of anger and frustration before storming out to the mouth of the cave murmuring that he was taking the first watch.

Watching the figure she knew was Naruto kneel at the mouth of the cave and scribble something in the ground, she turned to face the figure she knew was Sasuke but the stiff posture of the Uchiha relayed his unease and disinterest in speaking to her. However, one thing that Sakura prized herself on would be her stubbornness. Sakura bit her lip before tentatively speaking, "S-S-Sasuke-Kun could you please help me, I can't move my neck." The air shifting next to her as the other genin rose up from where he was lying and moved over to look her in the face. Heat gathered in Sakura's cheeks as she felt the warmth of the other genin on top of her and his breath tickled her chin as he leaned into peer at her face.

Sasuke leaned into Sakura's personal space and she held her breath, something must have shown on her face because she heard him huff and a tingling in the back of her head told he that he was rolling his eyes. Never the less, Sasuke placed his hand over her eyes and rubbed over her closed eyes, "There's nothing covering your neck Sakura, you're probably just pulled a muscle." Sasuke muttered in annoyance, his irritation filled the small cavern they were lying in and he laid back down, his back to Sakura.

Sakura felt like crying in frustration, she wasn't lying! But surprisingly she didn't. The emotional kunoichi shook the tears that were welling away and breathed deeply.

She wasn't the dependent, useless, waste of space Naruto said she was, she'd graduated as the top kunoichi in the year and she damn well knew that she was capable of deductive reasoning. Breathing deeply for a second time, she thought back to the last time she'd opened her eyes. The last thing she remembered seeing was her arm changing colour, she swallowed the bile that wanted to force its way out of her mouth and shook away her thoughts, at that point in time she had been forcing chakra out of her body and she remembered a burning sensation in her body. Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, she brought the memory of one of Iruka's lectures to the forefront of her mind. 'A shinobi's body is its greatest ally, you can control its every movement with chakra…' her mind blocked out the last of the lecture but focused in on the word 'control'. She used her chakra and routed it in her neck forcing it to move, her eyes widened when she saw one of the dark purple, still healing scars turn blue, the same translucent blue that she knew her chakra looked like. She stared in wonder as she watched her own chakra, move under her skin. She continued to watch with rapt attention until a voice broke her concentration, "What the fuck happened to you?" Naruto's large voice broke echoed through the cave and Sakura turned her head to see her blonde and black haired teammates staring at her in shock. She stopped the movement of her chakra and they all watched in silence as her scars changed back into their purple bruised colour. Naruto broke the silence, "Haruno, what the fuck was that? He asked, twirling kunai around his finger and watching her suspiciously, "you never told us that you had a kekkai genkai?" Even though it was poised as a question, Sakura could read through it and see that it was an accusation. Despite a large part of her disliking her teammates at the moment, she resigned herself to tell the truth, using her chakra to move her body upright; she leaned her back against the wall of the cave and made eye contact with the supposed brothers in arms.

"I think it's a consequence of what I did to …k-k-kill the spiders." She felt annoyance at herself for stuttering like a lovestruck Hinata over death. It was a normal aspect of shinobi life, she had no right to be scared of the inevitable; everyone died at some point and she was embarrassed to feel scared of death. Somehow, Sasuke understood what she meant and released the tension in his shoulders. Naruto nodded along, "What did you do?" Sakura took a deep breath and smiled slightly as she remembered, "I waited until they were on top of me, fangs about to sink into my neck. Then I striked back, "her smile turned sadistic as her grin revealed more teeth, "I forced my chakra out of my tenketsu and into their bodies like a needle, I watched as it was burnt alive. I still hear its screams in my mind and I don't regret shit, don't judge me." Her eyes shone with a conviction that neither boy had seen within her before and they nodded in understanding. She smiled that fake grin from earlier and continued, "I think my body reacted to the way I moved my chakra and has adapted my chakra flow in a way that is different to others. Besides that I don't know anything else."

Naruto nodded and they left it at that. No one said anything for the longest time and just as Sakura was going to drift off into the sweet embrace of sleep again, Sasuke spoke. "What's our plan? We don't have any supplies, food or water and if Sakura's immunity had been down she'd have died. We need to do something, especially since we don't know what Kakashi-sensei's long term goal was for us in here."

"You know Uchiha? That's the most I've ever heard you speak." Naruto remarked from his spot leaning gains the wall. Sasuke rolled his eyes and hnned, Naruto laughed without humour, "You Uchiha's know that's not a word right? Besides, we know Kakashi's long term goal, it's to legally kill us, and so we know what we have to do." Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "What's that usuratonkachi?" he asked. Naruto smirked, "Easy teme, survive." Sakura laughed mirthlessly.

* * *

Kakashi watched the three genin as they sat in the cave and quietly planned there next course of action. He analysed their every move and catalogued in his mind. His new team was interesting. They had potential, possibly more potential than he or Itachi and it made a large part of him sadistically happy. He was going to break his genin, out of the undying loyalty preached by the Council and into the true way of a shinobi. He stole a glance at the younger Uchiha and he felt melancholy envelop in his body; he was so similar yet so different to his uncle with whom he shared the same clan. Kakashi smiled sadistically as he fingered the scroll in his pocket; Obito had, had potential but potential didn't save him. If his genin where going to tap into their potential they were going to have to do things that his Hokage wouldn't agree with; things that fed his psychotic side which he squashed down immediately. Shinobi always had to remain in control. As he watched the three genin, Kakashi vowed to give them more than jutsu, he wanted them to forge bonds that would last a lifetime; to understand the ethics of what they were doing, who they were and be able to make decisions outside of blind love for Konoha. He wanted them to think.

Smirking, Kakashi gripped the scroll tightly and vanished away.

* * *

"Arashi, Kasumi and …Hiruzen-Sama what is this?" Minato raved, waving the sheet of paper with the genin teams on in the air. "Why are the team allocations different to those that we discussed? I thought we'd agreed that my children would be placed together and that there wouldn't be a Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi team. It's uncertain that they will work well together just because of their fathers." Minato asked, raising an eyebrow at his fellow Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen was not called the Professor for nothing. The older shinobi, wise beyond his years, took a leisurely inhale of his pipe, and then exhaled, blowing perfect smoke rings into the air. "When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew. Minato, that is a proverb that has been passed down from Hokage to Hokage and I will teach it to you. No shinobi village is intrinsically good or bad, we're human. We all fight for the good of our village and the good of our people, against other villages and powers using anything at our disposal. The Great Tree of Konohagakure no sato must never fall at any and all cost. The civilians like to believe that the Will of Fire is a code by which they are protected. That the most powerful shinobi are the ones that walk around with flashy jutsu, slinging chakra around wastefully. They have no idea of the intricacies of the shinobi world and I refuse to fall into the trap of letting them believe to have clout and say in the matters of shinobi. We teach the will of fire but it is not blind belief in the village, it is the bond of blood, sweat and tears that is the will of fire. The binding of shinobi in the bond of death and blood; true brothers in arms. I am trusted to put together teams that will withstand the horrors and reality of our world Minato, not teams that suit the ideals of the civilian population. They serve us, we do not serve them. They exist under the protection we provide; therefore, they have no right to question our morals or choices and you have no need to cater to them. Those teams will usher in a new age for the shinobi of Konoha Minato and you will either accept it or deny it, but it will happen, mark my words."

Nothing was said but Minato nodded, "Of course Hiruzen-Sama, Arashi has been trained from birth to fulfill the prophecy and usher Konohagakure into a new age." Hiruzen opened one eye and watched Minato before nodding slowly and removing the pipe from his mouth, placing it on the table, "One tree does not a forest make Minato. Teamwork is the foundation of Konohagakure, never forget." Minato nodded his head but it was obvious that he wasn't listening; he stood and bowed before leaving.

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head, as he refilled his pipe his door opened unannounced. Hiruzen noted that his ANBU had not moved so kept his guise of a gentle old man, continuing with what he was doing until he felt a presence behind him. "Really Hokage-Sama? Smoking will eventually kill you." A deep voice mocked him from behind, turning around Hiruzen shook his head, he discreetly signaled for the ANBU to leave. As he felt the five chakra signatures leave his presence he pumped chakra to the seal lying under his desk which hummed and grew warm. With the sound barrier in place Sarutobi leaned back and made eye contact. "Nothing has as great a chance of killing me than your mother. Our marriage has shaved many years off of my life already, the sex non-withstanding Orochimaru-kun." The tall lithe shinobi shook his long dark hair out of his eyes and leaned against the window. He stared out on to the landscape of Konoha, his eyes brimming with melancholy, and he heard himself asking, "What did Namikaze-san want Hokage-Sama?"

Hiruzen smiled tightly, "Orochimaru-kun he is your Hokage as well please remember to be more respectful. Besides, he came to complain about the teams I had arranged this year for the graduating genin." Orochimaru gave his father a quizzical look and took the paper he held up towards him. It only took moments for him to read through the sheet and laugh, "I see why Namikaze-san was upset. He didn't get his Namikaze dream team as he had imagined." Hiruzen smiled at his son's antics but it soon faded, "No he did not. Orochimaru how is your mother? He still has not come home and your brother refuses to talk to me at present as he has decided to take sides."

"Asuma has always wore his heart and his emotions on a sleeve, so has Biwako you shouldn't be surprised that they chose Tou-chan. Your methods were underhanded and unexpected by the three of them and they still do not know how to react. Tou-chan's pride is more than likely bruised as well Otou-Sama, give him time. He did raise good points however, Nohara Rin will attack the village, and it is just a matter of when instead of if she will attack, Ne can provide viable power for us. " Hiruzen nodded, "The heart is the most dangerous part of a shinobi, and your mother has proven that multiple times, no one has or ever will, hurt me like he has. Many would say that shinobi should not have hearts but I believe it makes us more human. However, humans are neither bad nor good..."

Orochimaru nodded, "they are capable of both in equal or unequal quantities." He finished as he smiled at his father before it vanished and his eyes hardened, remembering why he was there, and so did Hiruzen. Hiruzen's eyes narrowed and he kneeled down and bowed before his Hokage. Hiruzen spoke with ice in his voice, "Rise Shinobi and report" and Orochimaru stood and started speaking. "Hokage-Sama, there has been a disturbance in the Marsh Lands of the East. She has been gathering forces, and there have been rumors of War in the Oni no Kuni attributed to her. We need to prepare to be on the defense from now and ready the shinobi for a possible war Hokage-Sama."

Hiruzen nodded and leisurely blew out another smoke ring from his pipe. "Your job was to extract information shinobi, not to plan a tactical attack that could potentially put the lives of Konoha shinobi in jeopardy." Hiruzen's eyes hardened and he glared at Orochimaru, "Your mission was to gather information shinobi, do not overstep your boundaries by telling me what the best course of action is. First and foremost you are a shinobi and I am your Hokage, we are not family in the matters of the village and you will respect me as such. You are dismissed"

He turned away and began writing on the scroll in front of him, moments passed. "Did you not hear me shinobi, you are dismissed." Orochimaru rose, annoyance evident in his eyes, as he walked out of the he stopped out the door, his back to his father and spoke. "You cannot depend on Tsunade to try and convince her old student to repent; her heart and mind are too far gone for that."With that he vanished away in an array of leaves, Shūnshin no Jutsu. Hiruzen stood from his seat and walked over to the window; he looked through the window out onto Konoha and grimaced at what he saw. Konohagakure no sato hadn't fallen yet and he didn't intend for it to fall any time soon, but a part of him knew that his marriage may not have the same luck after what he done, and wanted to do.

* * *

'M-My head, i-it burns!" was the first thing Sasuke heard as he woke up from his rest. Naruto had taken over watch half way through the day and he'd been able to get some rest. He leaned up his body from his position in a nearby tree and watched as Sakura whimpered and cried, clutching what remained of her hair and rolling around on the ground. She was breaking, he could tell. His relatives had to take psychological checks periodically because the Hokage worried about their mental health. The sharingan remembered everything and the memory of every death committed could cause mental instability. The dark eerie forest offered her no comfort and she paid no attention to her surroundings not even when a large carcass dropped to the ground next to her and blood and fluids began to pool around the body. Sasuke's eyes scanned around until he saw Naruto jump from one of the trees and land below him. Sasuke jumped down from where he had been perched and as he descended from the branches the putrid scent of death assaulted his nose.

Walking forward slightly, Sasuke surveyed the area before pointing out a smaller lump of flesh a little ways away from the dead animal. "Namikaze, Sakura" he pointed to the figure, "I think she's breaking down," Naruto nodded and walked over to her, Sasuke made sure to keep an eye on the area, the last time they had let their guard down they had almost ended up dinner for spiders, especially in the dark of the night with a decaying carcass nearby.

She'd already been burnt badly but on top of that; her hair was completely burn away, apart from a long tuft in the centre of her hair that resembled a crude Mohawk. The sides of her scalp were burnt in criss-crossed and swirl pattern that Naruto assumed was the pattern in which her hair had been lying across her scalp and face earlier. They were the same purple colour as the burns on her body and neck. The left side of her face was unmarred by scars but she had a long bleeding cut from the bottom of her chin to the base of her neck which was probably from her clawing at her face. Her clothes were torn and broken and she was breathing raggedly but what was truly terrifying was the look of utter anguish and pain in her glassy green eyes. She stared off in the distance and blinked, there was no sign of recognition.

Sasuke could barely keep the little he had in his stomach there when he saw Sakura's body and any one cold tell from the look on his face that she was in very bad condition. "What do we do?" Naruto asked as he leaned over the body of his teammate, Sasuke shook his head and stilled his mind racing. "Talk to her, reassure her and make her feel safe then try and coax her back into reality." He knew he was treating her like a victim of Tsukuyomi but it was the only thing he believed was similar to her condition, he wasn't a Yamanaka. Naruto looked at him incredulously and shook his head, "I can't do that Uchiha. I didn't sign up for this shit when I became a shinobi." He hissed, reaching towards her his heart lurched but he couldn't convey his sympathy for her, he doubted that it would have done any good as a ninja she was expected to face death, rape, and violence. He leaned down next to her and grabbed her hand, applying a bit of pressure in his grip. She turned her head to see what was happening and came face to face with blue eyes, the clouds left from her eyes and he could see that she was coherent. He looked her dead in the eyes and mouthed 'sorry' as his hand wrapped around her head and pressed against her temple, knocking her out cold. He felt Sasuke walking up behind him, hands in pocket, the Uchiha spare crouched down to their level and spoke, "You're the worst at offering comfort Usuratonkachi"

* * *

Kakashi seethed above his genin as he watched how they took care of each other. If 'care' was even the right word. He'd placed her under a mild genjutsu and hoped they'd either notice it or try to help instead of knocking her out and hoping she'd mend herself. Self preservation was not something he cultivated, they had signed their life away the moment they had taken their Hitai-ate and if they intended to forsake a mission or a comrade for the guarantee of safety then they didn't deserve to be shinobi. Cursing under his breath he shūnshined away.

* * *

Guilt had been filling up inside Naruto from the moment Sakura had fallen unconscious to the moment she woke up. When he saw the wide emerald eyes open and stare around in confusion it made a large part of him fill with happiness, a small selfish part of him was happy than he didn't have to worry about what Kakashi would say.

They'd tried to relocate back to their alcove after he knocked Sakura unconscious; however other animals in the forest had the same idea. It had been taken over by a giant centipede that hadn't been happy seeing them, immediately attacking with the intent to kill. Without any warning or preparation they had ran, and they'd been on the run ever since.

They'd relocated north of where they were but ended up intercepting a sleuth of bears. They hadn't thought about the conserving chakra and pumped without though, paying the price against the predators of the forest. Running with bleeding wounds, carrying another human, despite how light she was, hadn't been easy and instead made them walking targets. Honestly, Sakura had woken up at the right time, just as the boys contemplated leaving her behind, deeming her as dead weight.

The kunoichi's eyes dimmed and she glared at the Blonde. Naruto stepped back giving her a confused look before passing her a piece of bark filled with water. The boys looked like trash that was the best way to put it. Their hair was matted to their heads blood and dirt was stuck to their skin and clothes; Sasuke was naked from the waist up and Sakura could see that his shredded shirt was wrapped around his ribs preventing blood seeping from his wound. Naruto's head band was wrapped around his upper thigh tightly and Sakura could see it was restricting blood flow hopefully preventing him from dying of blood loss. The anger Sakura had felt only once in her life veered up again in her body and made her feel righteous fury about conflict she was about to speak. "I heard you Uchiha-san, Namikaze-san. When you two were talking about leaving me," her voice was desolate and cold and the boys felt bare under her gaze, "you soulless oni's deserve to die and I hope you know that, especially you Uchiha-san." Her voice broke and she stopped to prevent sobbing, "I thought I loved you, the perfect boy in the academy. You two pieces of shit are my teammates and even though I hate your guts we're stuck with each other. So let's work together pass this fucking test, get promoted and never see each other again. Agreed?"

Sasuke seemed puzzled by her change in demeanor but nodded anyway. Naruto gave her a disgruntled look trying to hold his tongue but it didn't work, "Fine Haruno, I agree but make sure your not dead weight anymore. If you drag us behind I'll kill you myself because team or not I'm not dying because of you." His facial expression was serious, very serious; all of Team 7 knew that.

"So we all agree that we're using each other to pass then we part ways? No need to fuck with each other more than necessary." Sakura said, trying to pull herself up and on to her feet. The boys nodded and both grabbed a hand each pulling her to her feet. She glared and said nothing, rubbing her muscles and trying to loosen her body up. All three potential genin's eyes moved to the sound of a roar coming from the left. The sound of the rushing water behind them did nothing to drown out the sound of the animal. Sakura grabbed a kunai from her pouch, twirling it around her finger and settled into the academy taijutsu stance'; Sasuke's hand curled around the last two of his shuriken and Naruto grabbed his last kunai with a kibaku fuda attached.

They had seconds before a panther crashed through the thick foliage and snarled menacingly in front of them. The mutated panther had elongated nails stretching out for a couple of centimeters and gleaning with a shine that the genin knew wasn't bone or keratin. It circled them, growling lowly and eyeing them with desire and bloodlust. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke immediately stood back to back and eyed the beast. They took formation san and tried to cover each other's blind spots, keeping an eye on the panther Sakura, signaled her teammates.

Naruto gave her an incredulous looks but the kunoichi glared back and signaled again. They lack of trust was evident but something bigger than Konoha, bigger than Team 7 forced both Naruto and Sasuke to acknowledge her in that moment and they nodded. Sakura nodded back and they focused on the predator eyeing him. Sakura motioned her hand, Sasuke saw the sign and nodded he slowly counted to three before jumping backwards grabbing the predator's attention. The panther signaled in on the Uchiha and leapt towards him, immediately the Uchiha went on the defense, throwing one of his shuriken at the eyes of the animal. The sharp blades at the shuriken embedded itself in the left eye of the panther, causing the panther to rear back in pain and howl. Naruto immediately took advantage of the situation and forced his chakra into the kibaku fuda, as the paper ignited he there it towards the wounded animal but it didn't connect. Somehow after years of mutation the animals of the forest had absorbed chakra developing a crude yet effective chakra system. The influx of Shodaime chakra and foreign chakra of the shinobi who used the forest, caused the animals to mutate in a weird and accelerated way that was particularly evident in the panther. It leapt out of the way with a chakra enhanced jump, missing the explosion of the tag and the edge of the sharp kunai. The kibaku fuda attached itself to a tree and exploded. Immediately the tree caught fire and began spreading. The genin noticed the blue tint to the claws of the panther when it landed back on the ground. "Fuck," Naruto said when he noticed the claws of the panther and the fire burning behind it, "we're fucked Haruno. Fire and flesh don't mesh well." He said through gritted teeth. Sakura glared, her mind racing as she stared at the destruction in front of her, "Fine Namikaze, we're gonna run. I know you can make Kage Bunshin, I read it in your file. I need you to make nine of them, henge three as Uchiha-san, three as me and three as yourself. Make them scatter in each direction, three running north, three running east, three running west and we run south as a unit over the river, keeping the pace and don't look back." Naruto nodded and did as she said, his hands ran quickly through the hand signs with familiarity and he quietly spoke, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" a large puff of smoke revealed nine Naruto's. Sakura and Sasuke eyed the panther as it stalked closer. "Hurry Namikaze" Sasuke said, fear creeping into his voice as their enemy approached, his body was flushed red and was blistering in front of them, Sakura's cuts were bleeding slightly but what was worse was the hard look in her eyes. Nine Naruto's hands ran through the henge jutsu and three sets of team seven appeared in front of them. The twelve genin all scattered without warning as was planned, then split into three teams in the opposite directions, the original team seven running quickly, through the river, none of them looking backwards.

After ten minutes of running Naruto slipped off of a branch and fell against a tree trunk. Immediately his teammates slowed and jumped off the canopy to see the blonde. Naruto breathed harshly, it was evident to them that it was painful to breath but they all were depleted and sore. However, what made his teammates worried was the way he was rubbing his temples with his index and ring finger. "Namikaze, what's with your head?" Sakura asked, leaning against the same tree. Naruto shook his head, clutching it between his hands, "The clones that ran east were dispelled. That panther's claws hurt like a bitch." Sasuke nodded and Sakura smiled sadistically, "Good, I hope he mauled you especially." The mohawked pinkette smiled at the glare that Naruto sent her and stood up, slowly walking away from them, "Just because that panther is busy now doesn't mean that it can't catch our scent, unless you wanna be fresh genin bait Namikaze."She spoke with a snide tone and a haughty lilt but didn't look back at her teammates as she walked away. Sasuke shook his head, trying to hide the small smile on his face but Naruto saw. "Shut it Uchiha," Naruto said as he brushed past the Uchiha. Sasuke rolled his eyes and followed his teammates. They didn't walk for long until Naruto huffed and stopped. He tapped Sakura on the shoulder and smirked at the kunoichi's disgruntled expression, "We need to ditch our clothes Haruno and cover our scent. Opposite to your opinion I don't wanna be panther meat."

Sakura rolled her eyes but nodded as well and Sasuke began pulling off his shorts. Immediately Sakura's face blossomed scarlet and she opened her mouth, no sound coming out. Smirking, Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Like what you see Haruno?" he purred before fully pulling of his underwear as well. Naruto grinned at the look on Sakura's face and taunted her from Sasuke's side, "Really Haruno? Where's the brave cocky bitch gone? Still the weak kunoichi deep down we all know you are?" Sakura spat at Naruto, the saliva and phlegm clinging to the cheek of the still smirking blonde. Glaring, she huffed as she pulled her dress over her head, the material catching on her ear and made her grimace in pain but she didn't say a word. She flung the battered red dress on the ground and without a word pulled off her lycra combat shorts and underwear. The boys eyes headed south immediately and Naruto whistled when he saw the pink curly hair of her vagina, "Never suspected the rug matched the drapes." Sakura turned red again but replied in a biting tone to Naruto, "Well it does unless you're colour blind." Sasuke snorted but nothing was said further. Naruto caught the atmosphere and pulled of the rags he used to call clothes, Sakura peered at his body too out of the corner of her eye and her eyes widened when she saw his genitals. Sasuke caught her eyes as Naruto gathered his clothes in his hands and smirked; she huffed and rolled her eyes in return.

The other two genin gathered their clothes as well and placed them in a bundle on the floor, Naruto leaned down and covered them with dirt to keep them buried then stood. "Well since that's done, what do we do now?" Sakura asked her hands on her hips. Sasuke smirked grabbing their attention, "Easy. To paraphrase Namikaze, we survive." Naruto smiled and laughed out loud, Sakura rolling her eyes but there was humour present there.

Unbeknownst to them, above them Kakashi raised an eyebrow at their antics before disappearing in an array of leaves.

* * *

Sakura smiled as she pulled the ties of her makeshift skirt closed. The green canopy leaves covered her from hip to knee and the two layers provided a bit of padding and protection against the elements, especially the insects. The small red bites from various insects all over her body, even on her vulva that itched were swollen and made it hard for her to walk. Her embarrassment at her nudity quickly paled in comparison to the danger and adrenaline they were feeling and she didn't bother to make a top to cover her breasts and torso. If the boys were shirtless she could be too. She looked over at her teammates; Naruto was curled against a tree, threading some type of loincloth with leaves and some fur from a mauled bear that was too rancid to eat. Sasuke was on lookout in a tall tree, invisible except for his fur shorts and shoes. The clothing they made was functional but did nothing to help in the forest. For every high they gained, a low followed after and it was starting to get to them. Survival meant shelter, food, and medicine if possible. They had clothing but shelter was hard in a forest that was total against them. Every cave seemed to already have a tenant; every tree had a spider or an insect and the rivers were a no go. The only saving grace was the make shift spear Naruto had fashioned from tree bark and sharp piece of rock Sasuke had found, they'd killed three giant centipedes, eating the slimy meat, something Sakura would have never done before but helped to keep up their strength in the forest of death.

Naruto sharpened the spear against another rock; the normally solemn and cold Namikaze heir had shown a side neither of them had seen before. His wild, animalistic side had surprised them but his quick thinking and unusual ways of killing had made them a stronger unit against what the forest could throw at them. Sakura could see the jist of what their team was about, Naruto was the head runner, the close range fighter. He wasn't afraid of getting down and dirty or sustaining injuries and Sakura could see how it made the team better overall. He was cold, animalistic and calculated and Sakura could see a hint of the monster he was gonna become.

Sasuke was the best support anyone could have, his eyes and her strategies made them fearsome, it also helped that Naruto had the power to do anything they wanted strength wise. Sasuke had speed and agility and Sakura could see how his long range abilities and assistance from the sidelines could turn the tide of a battle. His work against the animals made Naruto and he a monster to the other predators of the forest, but Sakura could see the toll it was taking on them.

Sakura's endurance and stamina had improved rapidly but her upper body strength was pretty much nonexistent and she felt the annoyance at the lack of muscle or core strength, Naruto and Sasuke pulled majority of the grunt work but she needed to pull her weight, wanted to pull her weight. Her strategies and quick thinking was good but they needed to be better. She sat down in front of the boys, breathed deeply and spoke; "Fuck this shit; we can't stay on the fucking defensive. We need to fight back, fight or die. We're shinobi and yet no one's used a fucking jutsu, besides Naruto. We need to do our job that's more than surviving. We're taking a damn cave back from some shitty bug and we're gonna survive this shit, prove to Kakashi that we deserve to be genin." Sakura spat, leaning against a tree, her eyes were hard and filled with anger and a bit of self loathing.

Nodding, Sasuke and Naruto gave the kunoichi their undivided attention. Sakura looked surprised by their deference but she got over it quick. "Okay, so two miles from here is a cave Sasuke found yesterday. Inside is a predator, he didn't see them but they're loud, the markings on the ground and walls had nail marks so they got their own weapons. We need to get in there, kill them and get the bodies out quick time before it attracts other predators. So we're gonna…"

* * *

Kakashi smirked as he held the bottle of insect pheromone in his hand. He'd been spraying them from the moment they'd entered the forest and it had provided him satisfaction to see them react. Their shaky start had pissed him off but he liked the path they were taking he liked. They were cohesive and worked well together; it gave reassurance to the doubt in his mind. He knew if Minato-sensei knew what he was doing to his child that there would be major repercussions on his part, but Kakashi knew intrinsically that he was making the right decision. He was going to make a team that could withstand anything, even the test of time. Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Namikaze Naruto were gonna be bigger than the Ino-Shika/Chou trio, bigger than the Sannin they were going down in history. Kakashi could feel it.

* * *

**Translation and Jutsu List**

Oni no Kuni – Land of Demons

Shūnshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Jutsu

Kibaku Fuda – Explosive Tags

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Jutsu


End file.
